At 3:25 (1925)
"Paris qui dort" (original title)

A scientist's invisible ray freezes Paris into immobility.

Director:

René Clair

Writer:

René Clair

Stars:

Henri Rollan, Charles Martinelli, Louis Pré Fils

Cast

Credited cast:
Henri Rollan	...	Albert
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Martinelli	...	The scientist (as Martinelli (I)
Louis Pré Fils
Albert Préjean	...	The pilot
Madeleine Rodrigue	...	Hesta, the airline passenger
Myla Seller	...	The niece / daughter of the scientist
Antoine Stacquet	...	The rich man (as Stacquet)
Marcel Vallée

Storyline

Early roots of sci-fi magic are given to us in the form of a scientist who invents a ray that makes people caught in its beam fall asleep where they stand. With magical and wonderful shots of a Paris long gone, it is the adventure of a group of unaffected who with their sudden freedoms play the game of mice while the cat is away. With a narrative that sways toward a moralistic stance on the principles of fair play and responsibility, this little science fiction fable can still be poignant today as when the magnificent views were first shot from the dizzy heights of the Eiffel Tower.

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Plot Keywords:

ray | keeper | bank note | deserted city | airplane | 

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Genres:

Short | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

At 3:25

Filming Locations:

Champ de Mars, Paris 7, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films Diamant

Technical Specs

Runtime:

35 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is featured on the Criterion Collection DVD for Under the Roofs of Paris.

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Connections

Featured in Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood: The Music of Light (1995)

User Reviews

Experiments

One has to love these early shorts -- look at the freedom that existed to film more or less whatever subject crossed the artist's mind. And at the self-reference: in the narrative, the characters have the freedom to do more or less whatever crosses their minds. The film itself is the work of a 'mad scientist' about the experiment of the mad scientist within.

The construction is both simple and deeply abstract: we begin with a lone figure against the backdrop of Paris architecture, which grows increasingly populated by statuesque mimes, who are manipulated by animated mimes. The movie ends when the level of abstraction is removed.

Clearly what have here is a work that is conceived from start to finish as a visual story...something so influential that has survived the test of time, in ways that so many other 'experiments' did not. Modern borrowings from this are found in 'Devil's Advocate', 'Dark City', 'Abre Los Ojos/Vanilla Sky'...